by Avery Phillips: Eyesight is one of the first things you notice declining as you age, and it’s frustrating because it affects your everyday life, making routine tasks difficult…
If you’re not used to prescription eyeglasses and contacts, this can be a major life change and can cause quite a bit of discomfort. Even the slightest changes in your eyesight can cause strain and headaches. Let’s take a look at how to improve longevity and help maintain your eyesight well into the best years of your life.
What is Longevity?
Longevity is the duration of your lifespan, but it’s also about the quality of your life. Obtaining longevity means you’re living a healthy life longer than the average person. If you have longevity, you might be dealing with some of the common aspects of aging, like declining eyesight, but you’re maintaining better than the average person.
Who wouldn’t want to live a long and healthy life? The thing is, it’s difficult to know exactly how to obtain longevity. The secret recipe could be different for everyone. But we do know a few things like good nutrition, a healthy lifestyle, and having a life purpose fuels longevity.
You can potentially maintain your healthy eyes longer with a few lifestyle changes. Here are some tips to follow:
How to Maintain Healthy Eyes
Nutrition for Eyesight
A healthy diet packed with antioxidants and omega-3s is the most beneficial to your eyesight. Antioxidants, especially lutein, collect in the retina and protect your eyes against damage. You can find lutein in foods like:
- Yellow carrots
- Spinach
- Kale
- Egg yolks
Healthy fats, specifically omega-3s, can actually help your body to absorb antioxidants like lutein more efficiently. Try to use olive oil or coconut oil when cooking as these are the best options for increased antioxidant absorption. Use this list of foods to support vitamin and mineral needs for more options that support healthy vision.
Eye Exercises
To be clear, eye exercises won’t fix or reverse impaired eyesight like some sources want you to believe. However, they can help delay the need for corrective lenses as our eyes age. The best thing about it is they’re free and it takes very little time to do.
If your eyes are dry or tired from working at a computer for too long, take frequent breaks to look at a different object far away. Try to take a break every hour if you’re working or reading for long periods of time. And if your eyes are feeling especially fatigued, try laying down to rest and putting cool cucumber slices on your closed eyelids. Here are a few other eye exercises you can do morning, night, or anytime you feel the need:
- Warm your eyes by rubbing the palms of your hands together and gently placing them against your eyes for a few seconds. Repeat this a couple of times.
- Slowly roll your eyes clockwise then counterclockwise.
- Hold a pen at arm’s length and focus your eyes on it. Slowly move the pen closer and further to and from your eyes (keeping at least 6 inches between your nose and the pen).
- Give yourself a facial massage by gently rubbing your temples, your forehead above your eyebrows, and below your eyes on the sides of your nose.
- Give your eyes plenty of time to rest. Make sure you’re getting around 8 hours of sleep a night and lay down for a nap if your eyes are really tired. Sleeping gives your eyes a much needed chance to rest and recover.
Monitor Your Eye Health
It’s essential to monitor certain things as we age. You’re probably well aware that you need to make regular doctor visits and pay close attention to your blood pressure and cholesterol. But what about your eyes? During healthy aging month, it’s a great time to think about the health of your eyes, but it’s something to consider year-round.
If you’ve never had issues with impaired vision before, you might not think about regular visits to the eye doctor. But ignoring your changing eyesight can lead to headaches, eye strain, accidents, or even greater consequences. Be sure to make an appointment with your eye doctor if you haven’t had one in a while.
If you want to live a long and healthy life, make sure you’re eating well, exercising, getting plenty of rest, and taking care of your eyes. After all, eyes are the window to the soul and healthy eyes make you look happy and well from the inside, out.
